Spring brake / Doctors group hopes to curb some of the excesses during the booze- and sex-fueled college rite

Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Friday, March 8, 2002

Photo: VICTOR R. CAIVANO

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Surrounded by mist, U.S. spring breakers dance at a disco in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun, Mexico, on Thursday, March 7, 2002. Thousands of college and high school students visit Cancun each year during the six-week Spring Break period. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano) less

Surrounded by mist, U.S. spring breakers dance at a disco in the Caribbean resort city of Cancun, Mexico, on Thursday, March 7, 2002. Thousands of college and high school students visit Cancun each year during ... more

Photo: VICTOR R. CAIVANO

Spring brake / Doctors group hopes to curb some of the excesses during the booze- and sex-fueled college rite

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There is no question why college students flock to spring break destinations like Mexico and Florida, and alcohol and vacation advertisers know it and use it.

Hey, sex and alcohol sells.

But spring break has been marred by alcohol-related injuries, deaths and sexual assaults, said Dr. J. Edward Hill, chairman-elect of the American Medical Association. Yesterday, the AMA took on the alcohol and tourism industries' "reckless promotion of alcohol as a key component of spring break. " The group hopes parents and campus administrators will push for regulations to ban the ads and enforcement of drinking laws.

The AMA released a poll showing that a majority of college students' parents don't realize their children are deluged with spring break promotions through e-mail, campus advertisements and direct mail. The ads and guides show photos of scantily clad women and wild partying and try to seduce students with "30 hours of Free Drinks" and "10 Free Parties."

"Expect to spend most of your days in town either passed out in your room or poolside," one Internet guide says.

More than half of students say they are eager recipients and choose spring break destinations for their great bars and reputation for wild partying.

"We as adults," Hill said, "have to take off our blinders and see spring break for what it is today, and that is a carnivallike atmosphere where alcohol seems to flow freely."

Spring break has been popularized by cable network MTV, which broadcasts from a beach every year, bringing in rock and rap stars and staging contests that entertain and work the partyers into a frenzy of hormones. The tourism and alcohol industries promote heavy drinking and sex, creating a cocktail mix of danger, Hill said.

HEAVY DRINKING

"Drinking is definitely involved. It is not like we go down there to sit around and do nothing," said UC Berkeley freshman Bret Manley, 18, who's headed to Lake Havasu in Arizona. "In Mexico, if you are 18 you can drink. There's no sleep, just partying."

And party they do. The Journal of American College Health in 1998 reported that during spring break the average man consumed 18 drinks per day and the average woman, 10 drinks per day. More than half of men and 40 percent of women drank until they became sick or passed out, according to the journal.

Students readily admit that the drinking and revelry often get out of hand, occasionally with disastrous consequences.

"What happens on spring break stays on spring break so people do a lot of stupid things. There is lots of casual sex," said UC Berkeley junior Hersh Karmarkar, 21, who said he may go on a road trip to New Orleans and Miami with his Theta Delta Chi fraternity brothers. "You are in a place where you don't know a lot of people and you won't ever have to see them again. Everybody's drunk, and you have a lot of people in one room."

FATAL FUN

And that fun can sometimes be fatal. In April 2000, 19-year-old Andrew Guglielmi, a sophomore at Ohio University, died from a fall off a third-floor hotel balcony after a day of partying in Panama City Beach. His father, Frank Guglielmi, found out in the hospital that the accident wasn't unusual.

"The intensive care unit was a war zone. There were families camped out everywhere. There were kids in comas," Guglielmi said.

"What we parents learned is that this scene was repeated every year at the same time."

Adults overwhelmingly support new regulations to ban references to drink specials in promotion materials and to limit alcohol appeals to college students during spring break. In the AMA poll, 86 percent of adults surveyed said it is time to stop irresponsible marketing practices.

Eighty-five percent said they would support requiring colleges to actively encourage spring break options that emphasize community service and things other than alcohol, and 99 percent of adults surveyed say bar owners should be required to train their staff not to serve intoxicated customers and to check identification at the door.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle said his city didn't enjoy its spring break image in the 1980s, when more than 450,000 students would descend on the city for wild partying in the streets.

"It was a reputation that lasted all year long," Naugle said.

The beleaguered city cracked down on open alcohol containers on the beach and streets and began aggressively enforcing the drinking age. Tourism shifted to family vacationers and increased from about 3 million during the height of the city's reputation for spring break to 7 million now.

ALCOHOL WELCOME MAT

But some cities still put out the welcome mat. A 12-page spring break advertisement promoting drink specials was produced by the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau in Florida and inserted in college newspapers across the nation, Hill said.

"We know that students should be responsible for their actions but we also know we need U.S. tour companies and bar owners and other adults to help them make good choices," Hill said.

UC Berkeley student David DcClercq, who is 21 and going to New Orleans and Miami for this break, said he had no problem getting alcohol when he was underage and spent spring breaks in Aspen and Las Vegas.

And then there's Mexico, where the legal drinking age is 18. UC Berkeley sophomore Alexa Salvagno, 19, said that's part of what is drawing her to Rosarito, Mexico, this year.

Students are just looking for fun in the sun, she said, and most know when to stop drinking.

"Be responsible, don't get too drunk so you pass out. Don't do anything illegal so you don't get caught by the federales, and bring a lot of money so you can buy them off if you do," Salvagno said.

PROGRAMS NATIONWIDE

Nationwide, there has been a swell of programs whose goal is reducing underage and binge drinking among college students. After a few high-profile alcohol-related deaths in the past few years, college campuses have aggressively targeted binge-drinking. The AMA has a 10-campus effort working with fraternities and sororities and college and city officials to reduce high- risk drinking. The organization is also putting out its own advertisements to counter alcohol promotions.

Last year, the 23-campus California State University became the first university system to institute a systemwide alcohol policy, focusing on education, restricting alcohol advertisements on campus and strict enforcement of existing drinking laws.

SPRING BREAK ALTERNATIVES

There is also a growing effort on college campuses to offer alternative spring break activities, such as cooking for the homeless.

About 60 students from Southern Methodist University in Texas are fanning out to cities across the country, including San Francisco, to do community service during next week's spring break.

Junior Jimmy Tran, 21, said he is not attracted by the wild parties and drinking others are doing for spring break.

"I don't think it is very healthy or fulfilling in the long run, whereas a lot of people who have participated in this have come back changed."

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